Home Schoolers Score Big in Runoff Election

With the home school community’s victories from the Primary still hanging in the air, conservatives waded into the Runoff election with a firm foot in the door. After battling hundreds of thousand of dollars from the liberal establishment and rebutting false accusations from left leaning “conservatives,” traditional values and parental rights finally emerged victorious when the results poured in last night.

New Leadership

Three out of four THSC endorsed statewide candidates scored huge victories. Conservatives solidified a win for Sid Miller (Agricultural Commissioner), Ken Paxton (Attorney General), and Dan Patrick (Lieutenant Governor), with Patrick and Paxton each winning their races with more than 60% of the vote.

Home schoolers have come a long way since the days of the Leeper decision, when parents could be fined and jailed just for teaching their kids. With these home school champions leading the way for Texas’ future, home schoolers can be sure that they will be afforded their full independence and protection under the law.

Combined with the landslide victories that home schoolers achieved in statewide races during the Primary, the prospects for Texas’ future are looking brighter. When the polls close at the General Election in November, Texans will have what is perhaps the most conservative statewide slate of elected officials this state has seen in recent memory.

A Conservative Senate?

The Lieutenant Governor, arguably the most influential elected position in Texas politics, oversees the Texas Senate and has enormous control over the flow of legislation. As the Education Committee Chairman in the Texas Senate, and a huge asset to the home schooling community in past legislative sessions, the political climate that Dan Patrick will set in the 84th legislative session will be the most home school friendly that Texans have seen in recent history.

This in conjunction with the unseating of two of the Texas Senate’s most liberal members and the addition of three home school advocates to the chamber, provides home schoolers with solid support in a typically liberal body of legislators. After replacing establishment Republican John Corona with home school dad Don Huffines in the Primary election, conservatives followed up by ousting anti-parental rights bill author Bob Deuell and ushering in home school advocate Bob Hall by 300 votes out of 36,000. This occurred while conservatives in the Fort Worth area were busy fighting their own battle to reclaim SD 10 from the left after abortion queen Wendy Davis vacated the seat in her rush for the Governors office. Liberals got the message loud and clear when THSC endorsed Konni Burton soundly defeated her opponent by more than a 20% margin.

House Under Foreclosure

Evidently, the establishment in the Texas House came up short on their promises to Texans one too many times, and Texans finally came knocking to collect the rent. With seven staunch conservatives joining the ranks from the Primary and the sound defeat of three establishment challengers in their attempt to oust conservative home school champions from the Texas House, the victories added to the mix from the Runoff election could not send a more clear message.

THSC endorsed Matt Shaheen stole the election from the left leaning establishment in HD 66, in spite of the thousands of dollars that they poured into the race against him. In HD 132, Mike Schofield won a resounding victory with more than 67% of the vote, reiterating the effectiveness of passionate grassroots support. When THSC reaches the legislature in 2015, there will be a crop of freshman legislators already standing guard and ready to defend parental rights in Texas.

Judicial Landslide

With four out of six THSC endorsed judges winning their elections, some by margins as high as 55%, judges across Texas are all too aware of the grassroots activists ready to hold them accountable in defense of their parental rights. John Schumde (247th District Court), Crystal Chandler (Bexar County Court at Law 13), Russ Casey (Tarrant County JP, Pct 3), and Alicia Franklin (311th District Court), who ousted Texas Judicial Wall of Shame judge Denise Pratt, all defeated their opponents with room to spare. As home schoolers become more and more involved politically, judges become increasingly aware of the dangers of violating parental rights. In counties across Texas, other groups now look to home schoolers for recommendations on judicial candidates because of their reputation for being uncompromising on their defense of traditional values and the application of the law in the courtroom.

Almost there

Although it is always beneficial to reflect on our efforts and learn from our mistakes, it is also important to remember that we aren’t quite done yet. The General Election in November marks the end of the election process, where candidates from multiple parties will take the public stage under the guise of our best interests and we will be forced to decide who we want representing us. With our victories from the Primary and Runoff elections ever present in the back of our minds, it’s time to put the gloves on one last time and reenter the ring to defend the rights that God has given us, and the future that we have been entrusted for our children. As we continue to defend God’s principles and the ideals that he has set for us to follow, he will continue to bless our efforts, defending his people where they are attacked and giving direction to those who seek it. For as he tells us in his word, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”

About Jeremy Newman

Born in California, Jeremy soon moved to Texas with his family at an early age. As the third of six children, Jeremy graduated as a life-long home school student and now lives in Dallas, where he teaches Lincoln Douglas debate in the NCFCA, a national home school speech and debate league. Jeremy worked as a policy analyst on the 2013 Watchmen team and began working full time as the Director of Public Policy for THSC in the fall of 2013.

Comments

I am so thankful that the home school community turned out to vote for Alicia Franklin in the race for judge of District Court 311 in Houston. Although her opponent announced that she had pulled out of the race (after the deadline for removing one’s name from the ballot had passed), the Wall of Shame judge could have won re-election if the voters hadn’t become educated about her conduct and about the qualifications of her opponent, Ms. Franklin. I don’t know if ex-Judge Pratt sanctioned it or not, but new campaign signs calling for her re-election were put up only a few blocks from our home about 4 days before early voting started. We were SO glad that Ms Franklin will now be the Republican candidate in the November election. Thanks, Tim Lambert, and all those at THSC who keep us up-to-date on things political!

I am so relieved to read this news. Texas has more than once been a shining beacon of independent thinking if only the other states would follow. This reminds me of the famous saying by Davy Crockett: “You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas.” Thank goodness I’m already there.